In U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,175 by the same inventor, incorporated herein by reference, the problems of applying herbicide, fertilizer, pesticide or any combination thereof, while at the same time cultivating the ground, are discussed. Growth of plants for commercial sale and planting around business structures or residential structures is still an extremely important business. The advantages of plants and trees both from an aesthetic and ecological standpoint are thoroughly discussed in the referenced patent. Growing of the trees in a nursery is greatly assisted by the device described in the prior patent.
However, the device described in the prior patent can be improved. Basically, the device described in the prior patent is now known to be somewhat larger than a nursery can efficiently use, if the trees are planted closer together. A commercial nursery has a great desire to plant the trees closer together in order to provide for more efficient use of the soil for growing the trees, by growing more trees on less land.
While it is desired to apply fertilizer and other nutrients, along with a pesticide and a herbicide around a tree to assist to the growing thereof, it can be a problem if the spray contacts the bark. Such contact can destroy the advantage of the treatment. It is desired to avoid such bark spraying. Yet to avoid such spraying contact with the bark is difficult when using a tractor or similar device for the spraying.
The size of the prior art device requires a larger area around the trees to permit maneuvers therebetween. But to plant more trees in the same land area requires hand treatment and cultivation. It is desirable to decrease the area required between the trees and provide the same protection as provided by the device described in the prior patent, while at the same time achieving the same results. If this can be accomplished, the same efficiency can be achieved as with the device of the prior art, while at the same time providing for more efficient use of land due to permitting the growing of more trees on that same land area.